My parents have passed away and there are mineral rights on sold land in Cherokee and Angelina Counties (2 properties that I know about) where the mineral rights were kept. where do I research and find these and any other that might be out there in the Surrounding area and weather it’s full right or percentages shared or divided?
Hi
You can start by researching in the county clerk records. Sometimes you can pull documents online at texasfile.com. You can search your parents name to pull up any documents to review. Then the previous owners name and so on until you get a clear picture of what was sold or kept throughout the years. (like a family tree but for minerals)
Then you can take the legal descriptions (location of the minerals) that are contained in the deeds and search on the Texas RRC website to see if there was ever any production on the land.
Finally you can search unclaimed property websites for the state of last residence or State of Texas (claimittexas.org) to make sure that no funds were ever sent to the state.
You will also need to file appropriate documents in each county that show the land passing from your parents into your name (probated will, affidavit of heirship, - differs based on different circumstances). You may want to hire an attorney or mineral consultant to help with this part.
Good luck!
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The deeds of sale where your parents reserved those mineral rights should be recorded in the counties where the land is located. If you need copies of the deeds going to the county clerk’s office in each county would be the most direct way to get them. If that isn’t convenient you can check the deed records for those counties online at the links that are below.
On the site for Angelina County click at the right side of the page where it says “Land Records Online”, and on the Cherokee County site click at the top of the page where it says “Free Records Search”.
Search for your parent’s name in the Grantor index to find the deed where they reserved the minerals. The deed should state what part of the mineral interest they reserved.
If your parent’s didn’t have wills or their estates weren’t probated you will probably need to record Affidavits of Heirship in order for the title to those mineral interests to be transferred to their heirs.
You will need to do that same type search in any other counties where you think your family may have reserved mineral interest. Some counties don’t have their deed records online but you can do free index searches at websites like TexasFile.com or CourthouseDirect.com.
Angelina County
https://www.angelinacounty.net/cc/
Cherokee County
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